


What I've Been Looking For

by mariamuses



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2019-02-13 22:42:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12994086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariamuses/pseuds/mariamuses
Summary: Mor needs a break from her perfect family so she takes a walk through Velaris, only for an opportunity for radical change in her life to arise.





	What I've Been Looking For

Mor was walking through the Rainbow, just having come out for a walk after a family lunch. It was always nice seeing everyone, the kids, their friends having finally found happiness. And after everything that had happened in the war, she couldn’t be more glad for it.

The thing was, she didn’t feel like she was getting any of that ‘magic’ for herself.

Sure, she wasn’t dead, but everyone had gotten a happy ending. Nesta and Cassian, Feyre and Rhys, Elain and Az... 

Mor deserved it too. Or at least, so she thought.

She had gotten out of there because it was too much. It happened sometimes and when it did, she knew she had to take a walk and thingk some things through.

That’s exactly what she was doing when a shrilling scream pulled her out of her reverie. It was high pitched and seemed to be a child’s.

She turned her head frantically, searching for the origin of it. Finally she located it coming from a little building on the side of the road. She headed straight for the door and burst into what seemed to be the only room of that house. In it she saw a healer, marked by her grey uniform, taking care of a woman who was lying on a matress on the floor. Beside that woman there was a little girl, with deep brown hair and shining amber eyes, barely four years of age. The girl was shaking the woman on the makeshift bed, and tears were streaming down her precious, big round eyes.

Now that Mor was closer, she could make out what the kid was saying.

“MOMMY! MOMMY WAKE UP! MOMMY, PLEASE, WAKE UP!”

Inmediately, Mor went to her side, pried her from what seemed to be her mother and after a lot of fighting, picked her up, enveloping the girl in her arms and soothing her with a gentle voice.

“Shhhhhhh, sweetie. Shhhhh. We need to let the healer do her job okay? Shhhhh. She’s doing what she can to bring your mommy back yeah?”

Even through those words, the baby didn’t stop crying so Mor started swaying a bit and looked around the room.

Now that the kid was with her, and not in any danger, she allowed herself to watch her surroundings.

The rooom was indeed the only one in the house, and it had spaces. There was a tiny kitchen with only a burner on it and a sink. No food on it either. Next to it was a bathroom that consisted of a toilet and a sink, which made her wonder how they washed themselves. The question was answered a glance later, when she found the couch with a homemade, thin, weathered blanket and beside it a bucket.

Carefully, she took a look on the sobbing child in her arms and examined her more closely. Just as she had noticed around the house, the girl wasn’t well kept either. She looked malnourished, the collarbone protruding from her very old and big shirt; as well as greasy and undone, messy hair, dirty nails and hollowed out eyes.

Mor started wondering what type of person could let a child live like this, and how could everyone have missed this.

Again, she was pulled out of her head whe the healer stepped away from the mum, looking at her and shaking her head while she took the blanket and threw it on top of the now dead woman.

Then, she approached her, curtsying to the Morrigan.

“My lady” she bowed.

“Don’t. Just Mor, please. What’s your name? What happened?” 

“I’m Iris. Neighbours heard the little girl screaming and called for me. When I came the woman was barely concious and I got to work but it was too late. I’m not even sure what killed her.”

At those words the little kid started crying even louder, but this time, Mor set her down, put her hands on the very thin arms and stared at her.

“Sweetie, what happened to your mommy?” she asked softly.

“MOOOOOMMYYYYYY!”

“Baby, we know, but we need you to tell us everything. Okay, we’ll start easy. What’s your name?”

“A.. A-Annie” cried the girl.

“Okay, Annie. Where are you from? Have you lived here all your life?”

“N-no. We moved he-here a few days ago... from the Hewn City”

At that Mor’s eyes widened, but quickly recovered her composure and turned to reasure the kid.

“That’s good. It’s nicer here, isn’t it.”

Looking into her eyes Annie nodded.

“Ok, now. I know it hurts, but can you tell me what happened to your mum?”

“She ate something bad. We didn’t have food when we scaped and we’d found this abandoned building so we moved in. But yesterday was the day that everyone from the Court of Nightmares could visit and mommy was scared that if they saw us they’ll force us to go back so we hid here all day. But we got so hungry, mummy stole fruit from the bad guys. We didn’t eat it until this morning, when she had a bite and then started coughing and spitting and then she fell to the floor and...” she got out through her sobbing. At the end though, she resumed it.

Mor promptly picked her up again, hugged her hard and started rocking her.

The healer took a look around the room and found the discarded, bitten fruit.

It was general knowledge that everything coming from the court visiting was spoiled or poison, but the mom probably had gotten desperate, hadn’t know and had tried a bite before her daughter, only for it to kill her.

When the healer finished inspecting the apple, she looked up and spoke.

“It is indeed poisoned. Ash wood dust, inyected into the core, making it look like a perfect piece.” 

Silence was the only thing that followed.

Mor headed for the door, and only when she was out did she dare ask.

“What are we going to do with the kid?”

Iris critically glanced at the creature in Mor’s arms and concluded.

“I would like to do a check-up on her, because she’s probably going to need vitamins and some pills to pull her out of her malnutrition state, not just a healthy diet. Besides that... I don’t really know. No orphans have ever appeared in Velaris, so there’s no set path for this. I suppose that we’ll have to take it out to the High Lord.”

“Don’t. Can I adopt her?” she looked down to the little girl, who had stopped crying somewhere in the middle of their conversation and was now fast asleep, the events of the day having tired her down. “Look, I know that your going to say that it’s not your decision to make. But I’m healthy, I have the means to take care of her and I actually want to. Isn’t that worth something?”

The healer looked dubiously at her, then slowly nodded.

“It  _is_ worth something, but the High Lord is the one who has to agree on this.”

“I know, I know. And I’ll tell him. I guess, what I’m asking is, don’t tell him that this girl needs a family. Tell him that I want this girl to be  _my_  family.”

“Okay. But if the High Lord is the problem, I have a better idea” said Iris, smirking.

* * *

After that they had gone to Mor’s bedroom, Annie still fast asleep, and with no other impediments, they got to work.

Iris completed the examination without waking her once, and told Mor exactly what to buy for the girl.

Right then, Feyre was called in. When the situation was explained, she agreed to sign whatever papers were necessary to make Mor’s new dream family happen; and even took a turn holding Annie.

Not too long afterwards, the kid woke up and was explained and informed of everything that was going to happen, if she wanted. After a little more crying, she sobered up and spoke.

“So, you want to be my new mummy?”

“Yeah, I do. With all my heart. And I’m going to take such good care of you: I’m going to buy you dresses, do your hair, introduce you to some friends and family, and most important, I’m going to love you as if you were my own.” got out Mor, silver lining her eyes.

“But I want my old mummy”

“And she will  _always_  be your mum. But she’s gone now and you get to have two mommies, maybe even three one day” she said, giving a side look to the healer who had made it all possible, and who she was starting to look with different eyes.

The kid looked down into her lap, then quickly up.

“Okay. But you have to promise me something.”

“What is it?”

“You can’t die too.”

“I promise I’ll do anything in my power not to.”

That seemed to be enough because she then proceeded to jum into her arms and buried her head into her new mum’s neck. Then, started speaking again.

“Morrigan? Can I-?

“Hey, hey, none of that. If I’m going to be your mum then you at least have to call me Mor. I know that you won’t like to call me mum for a while and that’s okay. But, only my enemies call me Morrigan.” interrupted Mor, shaking the girl a little.

“Okay. Mor?”

“Yeah sweetie?”

“Can I meet your family? I wanna get all the meetings over today.

At that, everyone in the room bursted out laughing.

* * *

That same night, lying in bed with her new daughter in her arms, fast asleep, Mor thought how the day had developed. Her running out at lunch, meeting Annie, meeting Iris, who had given her her directions so they could go out sometime, and  _obviously_ , check on Annie periodically; the baby agreeing to her, her meeting all the family, Rhys crying because she had finally found the happy ending she deserved...

But most of all, the rightness of it all. 

There, lying in her bed, with Annie’s breathing breaking the silence, she felt complete, as if a piece of her that was missing had been brought back.

And she was happy.


End file.
